Adv/Disadv Turbo vs. SC

[LCMust]

What are some advantages and disadvantages of superchargers and turbos and what are costs?

[Akromix]

Google is your friend.

[Shadowgray03]

Google is your friend.

Advantages and disadvantages depend on what you goal is for the car.

[Fernanernie]

To give you a general response to your general question.
Turbos have to overcome lag
SC's rob horsepower from the crank.

There are ways to overcome/minimize the effects, but this is a general response.

[Joe M]

A smaller turbo will help get rid of some of the lag.

Supercharger.. Takes power to make power.

Turbo: More expensive, trickier to tune, but, in the long run prolly worth more.

[lilstang5O]

you see/hear about more people going with the turbo setup! I'd love to have a T.T.stang vs s/c stang!

[StangerJon]

A smaller turbo will help get rid of some of the lag.

Supercharger.. Takes power to make power.

Turbo: More expensive, trickier to tune, but, in the long run prolly worth more.

I agree.

seems like the rule of thumb is that super chargers are for low end torque and turbos are for high end power.

[Emart]

the main difference is the way each is powered hence the advantage/disadvantage.

superchargers get their power via a pulley connected to the engine (meaning the engine has to work slightly harder to move the pulley thus detracting hp), and turbos get their power via a spinning turbine which is spun by the exhaust coming off the engine.

Nutshell: Turbos have more power potential, but their performance is proportional to your rpms (higher the rpms the faster its going to spin the turbine so the lag is when the rpms are low), hence the lag issue often brought up. Superchargers perform well at all rpms, but the downfall is hp being taken away because of pulley.

[2 beer]

lag is a thing of the past

[Novi2KGT]

SC's don't all make low end torque. My Novi 2K didn't make much power down low. SC's also put a lot of pressure on the crank. With properly sized components, a turbo can make more low end torque and high HP than most SC's that are comparable.

If you compare a SC at 10#'s and a Turbo at 10#'s, I'd be willing to bet the turbo car will make a considerable amount of power more.

[Akromix]

A smaller turbo will help get rid of some of the lag.

Supercharger.. Takes power to make power.

Turbo: More expensive, trickier to tune, but, in the long run prolly worth more.

Turbos also have parasitic loss. Just not quite as much as a blower...but they both have the "takes power to make power" aspect.

[Akromix]

the main difference is the way each is powered hence the advantage/disadvantage.

superchargers get their power via a pulley connected to the engine (meaning the engine has to work slightly harder to move the pulley thus detracting hp), and turbos get their power via a spinning turbine which is spun by the exhaust coming off the engine.

Nutshell: Turbos have more power potential, but their performance is proportional to your rpms (higher the rpms the faster its going to spin the turbine so the lag is when the rpms are low), hence the lag issue often brought up. Superchargers perform well at all rpms, but the downfall is hp being taken away because of pulley.

If you match the turbine wheel and housing properly to the engine, you shouldn't get too much "lag." A lot of people get the "bigger is better" mentality with turbos and buy far too large of a turbo and wonder why they don't get boost till 4k+ rpms.

[Mullet Tuner]

If you match the turbine wheel and housing properly to the engine, you shouldn't get too much "lag." A lot of people get the "bigger is better" mentality with turbos and buy far too large of a turbo and wonder why they don't get boost till 4k+ rpms.

Agreed, with a well designed system and a properly matched turbo for your application lag wont be much of a problem at all, especially with a V8.

[LCMust]

With a SC you may be robbing HP but you are still making 160 more than you were before right? (9psi) Kenne Bell by the way.

[theduckylittle]

Nutshell: Turbos have more power potential, but their performance is proportional to your rpms (higher the rpms the faster its going to spin the turbine so the lag is when the rpms are low), hence the lag issue often brought up. Superchargers perform well at all rpms,

This is all false.

Turbochargers have the ability to make the same amount of power once they are spooled. A normal turbo-car will have a flat-ass line on the dyno chart once the turbo has been spooled.


If you look at this random supra dyno-chart you see the turbo spool at around 4000 RPM (the huge "jump" in the numbers") and hold for the rest of the power band.


Versus this supercharged cobra where you can see the numbers grow directly proportional to RPM.

No one here has even mentioned the difference between a Roots and a Centrifugal type supercharger! Not only do they have drastically different power-making charactersitics but in installation, design, and thermodynamcis.

Finally, the idea that turbo's don't make "torque" is rediculous. If the turbine wheel is smaller the turbo will spool earlier. You can make a turbo spool at 1500 RPM so long as you have a properly sized turbine. If you really don't believe me than maybe the dyno chart of this turbo-vehicle will be more convincing...


-Duck